Serowe Hotel

... gate doesn't open until 6.00am. We had to get out of the vehicle again to dip our shoes, then the policeman sprayed all the tyres on the landcruiser even the spare ones on the back doors. Then it was straight on the sand tracks towards Rakops, and this time the track was much better. Apart from one steep slope, which had deep sand, which stopped the vehicle, so Neil had to reverse down the track and try the other ...

... to have been powdered with the material. Nevertheless the ride over the salt pans is an exciting other experience, where the horizon is far away and the fata morganas fool you with lakes in short distance. We finally arrive at the Serowe Rhino Sanctuary, where we just make it to the camp ground and enjoy a nice dinner at the very nice restaurant http://www.botswanatourism.co.bw/attrac tions/khama_rhino_sanctuary.html

After a good night we cross the border at Martin's Drift into Botswana. The procedure is a bit administrative (compared to Europe) but the people friendly and helpful. Just 30 minutes later we continue into Botswana, here the landscape is much dryer and the population much less dense compared to South Africa. As well the general wealth ...

... sport but I found it very addictive as I attempted to cast my line as close to the bank as I could. Of course our lack of previous experience showed as our lines became tangled around the reeds and a large number of lures were lost and lines were broken. Andy even managed to break the top of his rod when casting. We are still unsure how he did it. We all had a few nibbles on the line but caught absolutely nothing. Meanwhile Phil and Greg were fishing for fun and reeling in ...

... were everywhere located in small tin huts dotted around the town. Soon we had exhausted all that it had to offer and decided to return to Drotsky's for lunch until it was time to go to the Kubu Queen. Well if it's good enough for Prince Harry.... Yes, we were following in the footsteps of royalty. Prince Harry had only a few months earlier been photographed on this very boat by the British paparazzi! The boat itself had been lovingly restored by Greg Thomson after he ...

... wandering out in front of the car. What was it with all these death wish livestock? Shakawe is a large fishing village east of the main road and on the northern banks of the Panhandle and we would be staying at Drotsky's Campsite about 8km out of the town. To get there we turned down a sandy track off the main tar road and saw our first monkeys, a band of Vervets playing by the roadside. Eventually we arrived at Drotsky's ...

I had intended to take the train on a stretch of what was going to be Rhodes' Cape to Cairo railway. However, there is only one train a day leaving at 9 pm arriving Francistown at 5 am. This did not seem to be a good idea - my new pals in Gabs actively discouraged the route & plied me with sufficient Tulbach cabernet over an extended lunch at George's Google earth reference to be inserted her - so I took the bus the ...

... in genetic research, aged hippy and fascinating. Then there is a fellow Pom, Bryan who has been in Botswana on and off for 20 years and has his own management consulting firm here (one of a few business leads I have already picked up that may lead to potentially more work in Botswana). On Saturday we found out that for a year (1986) we were neighbours here in Gaborone, small bloody world that it is. Across the hall in another apartment are two more ...

... place to pick up the reins again than the Khama Rhino Sanctuary an hour outside Palapye. When I heard that the place existed--one of the only areas in Botswana where you can see rhino--I put it high on my wish list. And when Catherine heard that I didn't drive she put driving lessons on my to-do list.

At the sanctuary we spurned the offered map for a more DIY adventure, which paid off almost immediately. "Remember," said Catherine. "Don't look at the bush ...

... the tissues in the car.

Crying may not even be your first reaction, but give it a few days, better yet a few weeks, and the feeling sets in. "You have to come here to fall in love with this place," says project officer and WUSC volunteer Catherine Macnab. And once you do it's not easy to leave. The kids would be quite happy if you didn't.

Here's one with a smile that lights up her face so that even her eyebrows twinkle; another, an older boy who was obviously ...